State Senator Reinbold removed from Senate Judiciary Chair

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - On Monday, April 19th, the Senate Committee on Committees submitted a report recommending that Senator Lora Reinbold be removed from her position as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

As a senator, Reinbold has been an opponent of mask requirements in the legislature. She has also feuded with Governor Mike Dunleavy about Executive power. “I could not pinpoint a specific concern from the random and isolated thoughts expressed by caucus members that would support a legitimate reason to remove me from my Judiciary Chairmanship,” she said.

Kelli Toth, a staff member for Reinbold, provided a tearful invocation at the Senate Floor session, before Reinbold asked the Senate to vote against the Committee’s recommendation.

However, in a vote of 17 to 1, the body adopted the Committee’s report, effectively removing the senator from her airmanship.

According to Senate President Peter Micciche, “Today’s approach was a compassionate approach.” He said, “Today’s action is giving a valuable member some time to regroup.”

Reinbold will continue serving on the Senate.

“No one was fired today. There are no staff changes, there’s no office change, that member is in full standing in the Senate majority,” Micciche said.

In response to a question about why the move was made, he said, “We would like a more positive outcome from relationships, from the way committees are run, from respect for others in the building.”

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